Plate stacking and unstacking machine



July 24, 1951 Filed Jan. 21, 1948 as N J. N. BERGER PLATE STACKIG AND UNSTACKING MACHINE 35 2., 28 9 2s p'a4 3 Sheets-Sheet l JNVENToR. John N.Berger www,

July 24, 1951 J. N. BERGER PLATE sTAcKING AND UNSTACKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 21, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 JNVENTOR. John N.Berger Patented July 24, 1951 JolnfrNJ Berger. Pittslurghj` Ra. s Application.X J anuaryfZl, 19118;.SerialNl).`` 3.60315 invention; relatesto .apparatus forffassemzbling articles one-by-one and which, with slight moditcationacan `loealso employed forremovingvv thezarticl'es .from a stack, one-by-onaandha-s vision ofapparatus.I adjustable .to I articles Anotherl object of= hatis readily adaptable, or. Iofvarious diameters.

to form apile; or.. stack Iforoneof'its objectsthe pro-` my finvention; is to: provide.4

a device -of^theccharacter.y referredztoI that "will I. I

operate ,I with a=tminimum.I..o1:dangerr` of: damage to the. articlesI beinghandled.

Still anotherfobjectrof my `inventinzmpis; to: pro.-A I

videi-articlehandlingiapparatusfthat: canrbezfutis-J lizedto stack'f or aunstack-'articles of :widelyfv differ- A- entsahara-eter".` such.` as" metal lsh'eetsg slabs-,1 Ietc.,

ceramic-:zware IL-ofc pottfzryc':I or glass: plastics .r off ai. I noir-ceramic 1 kitcheny ware,- tablea water. traysrand articles; of`

character;` and?. also? similar shapes;

Figure 1 is'a including,rTv

planI view off the maclflineeI asf.K

adaptedf'forf'usefin depiling; ori separatingonesby-oneeacharticlelfromfastack of articles; Fig: 2 isa sideviewthereof; Fig."31isarviewItaken on theilineIII-III ofFig: 1 ;1Fig; 4-fisfa viewftakenf on `the lineIlf-IVof 1 Fig:` 5 is-a planiview on an `enlarged scaleof a portion of the structureV I of Fig: 1; Fig."6'isa viewmtaken on the line VI--VI Iof Fig. 5; Fig. '7;isza-u.plamview^ofIIthe machine adapted,` f or use. in. assembling the articles in stacks'or piles; Fig. 8f`is a-viwtakenronth'e lines VIII-VIII of Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 shows 'thedishes of Figs. 6 andas:infIinventedarrangementinstead of right Iside up.

Except for-w the form andarrangement of;.:some 01.Itl'1e` articlefengagingl fingers, theestructureI-of Figsgl to similar to the piling.apparatus;ofI

Figsrl and .8..

Referr-ingnrst to Figs. 1 toI 6., the structure.Y

comprises -I afpedestal or base IlLanchoredItoa suitable -foundation I I.

onsthe baser-I0. through with@ a leg y or: stern I4 membersithatnare carried by chef-table.

The table has an extension I5 supported therefrom by a canti-lever member I6. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3, base plates I'I and I8 are slidably supported on the table and its extension I5 respectively, for adjustment toward and from each other. The members I2 and I5 respectively have bearings I9 and 2U that support a shaft 2I which is driven by a motor 22. The base plates I1 and I8 carry bearings 23 and 24 respectively,

TheItable. I 2I.is supported the medium of an;n adi-I justingv nut. I3.` that has threaded...engagementI of the tablea and wis.I roe tatable to: raise and' lower such,.,stem andrthe. tabieto adjusttthe height of the-article-handling' I 2; these.bearings.are `.movable .with .the members. v IT and, I8.. and .support beveled gear Wheels. 25"and-"f` 2BIrespectiVel-y, that have splined connection with. theshaftIZI.

The yrnembersl .'I` andIB have tubular extensions 21 and 28. respectively, with which an adjusting screWIZiLfhas threaded. engagement.. The screw 29Iis.rotatable onthe shaft 2 Ibut is heldagainst" turning.` movement. except. when making adjustments .of vthe `bases I1 and. is rigidly1I securedto. thescrew 29 andgis driven. byIa1worm .32 to,.r.otate the threadedllsleevel p on..the `.shaft 2l,` tothereby` bring thenutlf-like..

extensions .2.I`I= and;I 28.. toward one.` another or. to..

moveathemIapart', depending upon.` the` sizes of..v Iare toIIbe handled. by*A theapparatus.

articles-*that The.worm.32 isdrivenz-byamotor.33 throughref I ductiongearing-.SLI The worm a pinion.3 5-I tha-t meshes with a gear wheel 36'..v Theageanwheel'E18-operatesa relay mechanism.

Withinfthewboxesfland.38. so that when. apointer.

39fonI theafaceof the.: box 38 isf set ata certain.4 point of adjustment for a particular spacingof.. theIarticleeengaging-membersI the circuit through the `motorf'33 .will be-.automatically broken. This.` automatic control does rnot comprise partIoftheI presentrinventiom; and it Will be obvious that theI could be made..

adjustmentA of.` thegscrew. 28 manually.:4 I I I 'Ihe 'pinion 26.has driving` connectionw'ithga p piniongonzanzeccentric.shaft 4I on which .Iis .carried a pair of eccentricfzelementsas shown' at.42,.the:f` said:ielementsf;beingIr oifset Ifrom one another in.` directioni;circumferentiallyI of. the` shaft,7 as indi.- I catedrinzFigs. l2Iand15.A These eccentric elements: turn in and operate eccentric hoops 43 and- 44.1H

gear shaft carries..-

Ther shafts 41 :I'isrsupported in-.bearings 45` Iancl` thatzarermounted `onz-Ithe slide; I8.

I The:-` hoopscA ory 'Iyokes 43 f connectedfito :slidesbars-;484 and; 49 I respectively, thati'arealongitudinallyeslidable-in at guideblock 50.'.whichis secure'dtcrthebase` plateel 8. A cover"y plateaaSI? is provided tor cover the.:` slots I in. the-L upper edgeeioffithe guideablockf. The loarz48has"I ana arm'.u52ion fitsf1 outer endl thatr carries :I iingers .I1

53; while.the=xbarf48i1has=anzarmi that carries:

During rotation of will be reciprocated fingers 54, in relangers 54 on its outer end. the shaft 4I, the ngers 53 longitudinally and also the tively-stepped relation.

The beveled gear Wheel 25 has driving connection with a pair of eccentric yokes or hoops 56 and 57 that respectively operate fingers 58 and59 in synchronism with the operation of the ngers 53 and 54, the eccentrics for the fingers 58 and and 44 are pivotally.` I

59 operating in the manner shown in Fig. 6 in connection with the eccentrics for the fingers 53 and 54.

Rack ngers or rods Ell- 6l are carried by the plate l and a similar plate 62, respectvely, to hold a stack of dishes or other articles against horizontal displacement while they are being operated upon by the various fingers. As shown in Figs. 1 to 6, a stack of articles will be placed in the rack formed by the rods 60-Bl, and the articles 63 will then be deposited one-by-one upon a conveyor S4 or other suitable support.

yIn placing the apparatus in operation, the threaded sleeve will be rotated by or in other suitable manner, to adjust the nuts the worm 32m 21-28 and hence the slides l1--I8 toward or*l from one another, in accordancewith the diameters or widths of the articles to be separated* or depiled. This adjustment shifts the bearings` 23 and 24, together with their associated gear wheels 25 and 26, longitudinally of the shaft 2l and at the same time will correspondingly shift the eccentric mechanism so that the rack fingers SII- '51 and the iingers 53-54 and Sii-+59 will be brought into proper relationship to the articles.

Thereupon, the motor 22 will be set in operation torotate the shaft 2i and the eccentrics. The fingers l54 and 59 will support 'the stack until the fingers 5'3-58 have been moved toward one another in position to engage an article that is immediately above the one with which the fingers 54-59are engaged. Continued operation of the eccentrics will thenwithdraw the fingers 54--59, allowingthe lowermost dish to drop to the conveyor 64. Immediately thereafter, the mecha nism will move the fingers 54-59 into position to supportr the next fingers 53,-58 Awithdrawn to allow the ystack dishes to be moved down into engagement with the 'fingers 154-59. Thereafter, the fingers 53 and 58 will be moved into position above thev lowermost dish, and the operations continued lowermost dish and the` until all of the dishes or other articles have been discharged or depiled.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9, I show mechanism constructed and operated in somewhat the same manner as the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 5. In this case however, the article-engaging fingers are operated in va somewhat different manner, in order to pile the dishes or assemble them in a stack. In this arrangement, iingers 66 are operated by 4an eccentric 61 in the same manner as arethek fingers 53-58, at each side of the stack'of articles. Lifting fingers 68 are provided at'each side of the apparatus, forv lifting articles 69 from arconveyor 19, one-by-one, to form a pile as in Fig. 8. i

These fingers 68 instead of being reciprocated horizontally as are the fingers 54,4 are oscillated through an arc by eccentric yokes or hoops 12 that are moved eccentrically as are the hoops 43. f The hoops have arms 13 rigidly secured thereto, these arms carrying the ngers 68. The hoops are fioatingly connected to the base plate |80, by links 15 so that during rotation of the shaft 41a and arms 13, the lingers 68 will be moved in arcuate paths downwardly and backwardly with respect to the articles and then advanced toward the articles and upwardly to lift the articles from the conveyor 18. During this cycle of movement by the arms 13, the fingers 66 will be maintained in position to support the stack of articles. As soon as the iingers 68 have moved an article upwardly against the lower end of the stack, the fingers 89 will be retracted and then .projectedtov bring themv into.. position to support thejarticlelast raised by the ng'ers B8.

It will be seen that, forfthe most part, the same lmechanism can be used to either pile or unpile articles, the principal change required being simply in thesubstituting of eccentric elements 12 for the eccentrics 43. The various piling and depiling fingers can be made of any suitable material, such as glass-covered steel pins or chromeplated metal, so'as not to mar or discolor fine vware, and vso that the fingers themselves will have longer life than would ordinary steel for example. YKAs shown in Fig. 9, dishes or the like can be piled and depiled when they are in inverted positions. ,1

I claim'as my invention:

Article-handling apparatus comprising a pair 'A lof base members that are supported on slide-ways n for adjustment toward and from each other, in

a horizontal'plane, an Yeccentric shaft 'journaledl on each base member and each provided with'a pair of eccentrics that are relativelyoifset about the axis of the shaft, yokes on the eccentrics,

horizontally-extending fingers' kpivotallyV con"-v nected to theI yokes, lguide means for the ngers," and retaining members extending upwardly from the base members, in positions to hold the articles of a stack in'relative vertical valinement, the

fingers connected to an eccentric yoke of one shaft andthe fingers 'thatare connected-'to the correspondingly mounted` eccentric yoke ofthe other l shaft being in a higher plane than-the vfingers f that'aref-c'onnected to the other eccentric yokes, and the fingers that are line 'of a stack of articles being moved toward and froml one another by their eccentrics, to

afford vertical support to a fthereby 'periodically stackzof articles, by respectively.

the upper and lower ngers,

JOHN N. ERGER. .f REFERENCES CITED .The following references are of record in the le of this-patent:

4UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date y ,830,187 v Cunningham Aug. l, 1899. ,9716491A` Rose oct. 11, 1910 1,058,372l Kruse Apr. 8, 1913 1,158,045 Graham Oct. 26, 1915 1,737,784 l Cherry'y Dec. 3, 1929 1,866,369 Poder f y July 5, i932, '1,870,207 Washburne Aug. 2, 1932 1,904,198 Brand Apr. 18, 1933*A 1,958,845, Burns May i5, 1934 fl' 1,963,621 Geyer 1= June 19, 1934:- 1,979,089 'l M Adams OCtl 30, 1934I 2,385,267 Franz Sept. 18, 1945 2,407,782 Hardy Sept. 17, 1946 at each sideof the center` 

